X is 3
by midnightstealth
Summary: Niou has an encounter with a girl in the cafe he frequents. Little does he know that the smallest encounter can lead to the biggest change he has ever experienced in his life.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: SO this has been running around in my head for a while and I decided to write it down. I know that the word is in math means equal but I thought it best to put it in here to make the meaning of the title a little more clear and cute. I hope you enjoy and I do not own PoT or Niou although I do own Akari who you will meet in the next sentence. **

Akari sighed for the umpteenth time as she yet again erased the math problem she had been working on. Math was her worst subject and she had been stuck on the first problem for two _hours._ If that wasn't enough she had also chosen her favorite café to study in. This meant that every time she groaned or made a noise people would look at her like she was some sick creature that needed to be put out to pasture. She took a deep breath and focused her attention back on her textbook and her, now slightly destroyed, notebook. Akari thought for a moment and pushed her hair behind her shoulder before she started to move her pencil across the paper again. She smiled. 'I'm getting it! I'm finally getting how to do this after two hours of working on it!' she thought as she continued to scribble. Once done she did a silent cheer to herself and decided that she at least deserved to confirm she had the correct answer by looking in the back of the book despite her only having finished the first problem. Akari flipped to the appendix and what she saw horrified her. The answer in the book: 3. Her answer: 5/6.

"Dammit, why the hell do I always have to get everything wrong?" she exclaimed. Her anger got the best of her and she threw her eraser as hard as she could not realizing where she was throwing it. Akari looked up just in time to see her eraser strike a gray haired man in the back of the head. 'Oh shit I just hit an old person,' Akari thought her hands going up to her mouth.

Everyone in the café looked at the girl who had just sworn and then turned their heads to look at the man that the eraser had hit. Suddenly the man's head bent backwards and Akari was met with one blue eye. Quickly he snapped his head back to its previous position when the barista handed the man his drink and sandwich. He thanked her and turned around and stared straight at Akari.

Akari gasped at what she saw. This wasn't an old man at all, instead there was a very attractive young man standing in front of her. He had spiky silver hair that trailed down into a rat tail. The blue eyes seemed to pierce right through her. There was a twinkle in those eyes that bothered her a bit, but Akari couldn't quite put her finger on what it was. Her eyes trailed down to this shirt he was wearing. It was a t-shirt and his muscular arms stuck out from underneath the sleeves. He was walking toward her and her breath hitched as this handsome, no scratch that, gorgeous, man came her way. She was shocked at how fast he got over to her table.

"Listen, I am sorry that you are a failure at the things you do, but don't take it out on innocent people like me," Niou stated not infuriated at all about the incident. He was just glad the girl had hit him so his day could be a little more interesting.

"Urg," was all Akari could manage to blurt out. An amused smirk graced the lips of the man in front of her.

"I see you just fail at life. Don't try so hard you are going to hurt something," he responded before walking off.

Akari just stared after the male not even knowing what to think. She then realized her mouth was hanging wide open. She promptly closed it and picked up her pencil again. She went back to working on her math problems trying her hardest to figure them out and what all the numbers meant. After many hours she had final gotten through three of the fifty problems she needed to do for the following week. She sighed when she saw it was getting dark out. She looked at her watch and her eyes nearly popped out of her head. She was going to miss the last train home if she didn't get a move on. Akari rushed to collect her things and remembered with a sigh that her eraser was somewhere up by the counter of the café. She was just about to head over that way when her eye caught something. It was her pink eraser sitting on the other side of the table. She grabbed it and ran out of the café. 'Why would he act like that, but still leave my eraser for me?' Akari wondered as she ran towards the train station.

**A/N: So I hoped you enjoyed that. Please review! **


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: So yeah ignore the last author note at the beginning of this story. Now you get to find out some more about our two main characters. This takes place at school. I hope you enjoy reading it as ,much as I have enjoyed writing it. Oh and I don't own PoT.**

Akari walked into school Monday morning nearly sweating through her uniform. She had barely managed to finish that math homework that the teacher had assigned. She walked into the classroom and sat down prepared to take whatever the teacher gave them. Not that she would be any good at it. She was sure she would fail, but nonetheless she was prepared for whatever happened. She turned to her seatmate, who happened to be the volleyball captain, and asked him how he had fared on the assignment.

"I thought it was actually kind of hard," he commented blushing slightly. He didn't want to seem like an idiot in front of this beautiful girl. It also didn't help that he spent most of their math class thinking up volleyball plays or staring at the perfect skin and luscious, long, copper hair that belonged to Akari.

"Me too. It took me forever to get through those problems and I even hit a guy in the back of the head when I threw my eraser," she explained and Mitsu (her seatmate) chuckled.

They were about to talk more when their conversation was interrupted by the teacher entering. The teacher started passing out papers and Akari and Mitsu groaned when they realized what it was. They were having a pop quiz in math. 'This day is just going to get worse,' Akari thought as the teacher set a quiz on her desk. She looked at it and saw that the problems were similar to the ones they had to complete for the day, but all the numbers were different and Akari started to panic. She tentatively picked up her pencil and started to work out the problems. 'Shit this is taking too long,' she thought as she slowly worked through the third problem. She could get through the next seven problems. She was confidant in that. However, her dreams of finishing all the problems were cut short when the teacher called time and asked all the students to put their pencils down. Akari sighed deeply as she set her pencil down. The teacher came to collect the tests and when he got to Akari he realized that she had not finished all of the problems.

"See me after class," he nodded to her. The teacher then began the lecture and Akari tried to take notes although her heart was racing a mile a minute. What if she got in trouble? What if she got expelled from the school? What would she do then? Work at the corner store for the rest of her life? That was defiantly not in her life plans. Before she knew the class was over and she gulped as she headed in the direction of her teacher's desk. Mitsu gave her a sympathetic look and continued on his way out the door.

"Yes teacher what did you want to talk to me about?" Akari questioned.

"I want to talk to you about your grades Ms. Hoshimoto. They are abominable at best. I think that it would be helpful if you found a tutor that could walk you through the material. I am also willing to help you as much as I can, but as you know I also have the Numerators to coach before our big competition," He responded folding his hands on his desk.

"I will find someone to help me with math," Akari stated firmly as she looked her teacher in the eye. She then wished him a good day and turned and walked out of the classroom. Once out of her classroom she started to sprint. Akari knew that she would be in even more trouble if she was late for her next class. Akari didn't look where she was going and before she knew what was happening she crashed into someone and found herself on the floor.

"Do you ever stop running into people or hurling objects at them?" A familiar voice drawled. Akari looked up to see the same boy from the café standing over her. Before she could say anything back to the boy a redhead came darting out of a classroom.

"Niou, how do you always manage to finish those math tests so fast. Haven't you been wandering the halls for like 45 minutes now?" The boy asked. Akari was shocked. 'Is this boy really that good at math?' She wondered.

"Now Bunta, you know that Niou is much better in math than you," a bluenette stated walking up to the little group, "And why are you sitting on the floor?"

"Erm…" Akari stuttered. This man was also very handsome although he had more of a feminine appearance.

"She was the one that hit me with her eraser yesterday while she was hopelessly trying to solve a math problem," Niou responded to the bluenette.

"Ah I see so she is the one," the bluenette murmured. Soon Akari found a hand in front of her face and looked to see that the hand belonged to said bluenette. She took his hand and he helped her to her feet.

"I'm sorry to cause you this trouble," Akari bowed to the men in front of her, "My math teacher kept me late, he said I should find a tutor."

"Well Niou here would be happy to tutor you," the bluenette smiled.

"Yukimura what about…." Niou trailed off looking at his buchou.

"You would be happy to wouldn't you, Niou?" Yukimura stated again looking directly at Niou.

"Yes I would be delighted," Niou huffed. He knew the look that Yukimura had given him. It was the 'help her with her math or you will be kicked of the team and rue the day you were born' look. "I'll meet you at that same café around 4 o'clock."

"Thank you so much. I will see you then," Akari said. She shot a smile at the bluenette silently thanking him. His face softened and he returned the smile. Akari then realized the time and ran off to her history class glad that she finally had someone to help her hopefully pass math.

(4:00)

Akari entered the café that she had been in the day previous. She saw the silver- haired teen sitting at a table in the corner. She went to the counter and ordered some coffee. Once she had her coffee and granola she went and sat down at the table.

"I don't think I ever introduced myself. I am Hoshimoto, Akari," she said holding out her hand.

"Ok, I'm Niou, Masaharu. Now let's get this over with," he sighed as he got out his calculator and pencil.

She reached into her bag and got out her book, notebook, calculator, and pencil. She heard a snort from the other side of the table and looked up. Akari saw the amused smirk on Niou's face.

"Seriously? You need tutored in algebra?" he scoffed looking at the book on the table.

"Yes," Akari growled at the male sitting across from her, "Not everyone can be a genius like you."

"I know," he smirked, "But on buchou's orders I have to help you. What do you need to work on?"

"Can we review some of the basics?" Akari asked, "I have always had trouble with sets and such."

"Ok, not a problem," Niou stated pulling out a spare notebook. 'Why the hell did buchou make me do this?' he thought. He drew a chart in his notebook. He filled it out while explaining it to the girl across from him.

"So all of these are subsets of real numbers. But where do imaginary numbers come in? What do they belong to?" Akari asked curious.

"Don't worry about those for now. All you need to worry about is this chart. And yes everything below the real numbers is a subset of them. SO here try this example."

"Twelve and thirteen are subsets of real numbers," she stated.

"Are they subsets of anything else?" Niou prodded pushing the chart towards her.

"Whole numbers, Integers, and Rational numbers?" Akari questioned unsure of herself.

"Yup you got it."

They continued on with inverse numbers and properties. Soon they had moved far enough that they were now on the page that contained Akari's homework. Simplifying exponential expressions.

"Ok so I am going to explain this once and then we can try some problems," Niou informed her, "So the parentheses here act like a multiplication symbol. All you are going to do is multiply the exponents. That is you simplified answer. How about you try some problems and then I can check them. I am going to order a sandwich."

Akari nodded and then got to work trying to figure out the problems. She always had trouble with these. Yes she understood about multiplying the exponents, but what about the bases? And what was she solving for? X? Y? Z? All three of them? Soon she saw Niou walking back taking a bite out of his sandwich.

"Ok so let me see what you have so far," Niou said as he picked up her paper. His eyebrows furrowed in confusion as he looked at the paper.

"What's wrong?" Akari panicked.

"Why do you have two exponents? And why is this set equal to zero?" Niou looked at the girl confusion written all over his face.

Well I was putting the exponents with the bases and then I set it equal to zero, but I don't know which variable I am solving for," Akari explained.

"Ah. I see where you got confused. You don't need to solve anything. It isn't an equation you are just putting it in the simplest form you can. And the bases are just there so you know you are working with exponents. Let's try the next one." Niou saw the wheels turning in her head as she tried to comprehend what he had just said.

"I think that is right."

Niou took the paper from her and looked at it. "Close. But you aren't raising it to another power. That's more complex stuff. Just multiply the one inside the parentheses with the one outside."

Akari picked up her pencil again and tried. She handed the paper back to the male. She waited with baited breath as he looked at it.

"You got it," he looked at her with relieved eyes.

"I did? Oh my! You are like the best tutor ever!" Akari exclaimed as she hugged him. He stiffened.

"You got it right, please don't hug me."

"Sorry."

"Let's head out. It's been a long evening," Niou yawned. He was getting sleepy and he remembered that he had an even earlier morning practice the next day. Was Yukimura intentionally trying to kill him? He wasn't sure. All he knew was that his patience was wearing thin. He thought he was overall nice to Hoshimoto. After all if Yukimura found out he had tricked her or pulled any pranks on her he might as well plan his own funeral.

"Thanks again," Akari beamed as she ran for the door, "Same time next week?"

"You're welcome and sounds good," Niou let out a breath. At least it was only once a week.

**A/N: I know that Niou was OOC in this chapter, but I don't think he would be mean to a girl that he was to tutor on Seiichi's orders do you? I would love you opinion. I am also going back to school tomorrow so this will most likely not be updated for a few days. But I should update around every Thurs. So look forward to the chapters!**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: So I hope you enjoy this chapter! Be ready for some maybe funny depending on your sense of humor. I don't own PoT.**

Akari walked into the same café the next week prepared with her materials. She had just gotten her quiz back and was quite happy with the grade she had received. Akari saw Niou sitting at the same table. He looked stressed though. She saw why. He was trying to get through his own math homework. Akari wondered if that is what he did every day after school, came here and sat and did his homework. She skipped over to the table happy as could be.

"What are you so happy about?" Niou muttered not looking up from his work.

"I got the quiz back from Monday," Akari danced happily on the spot.

"And?"

"I got a D+!"

"So we are going to have to work extra hard," Niou sighed. 'Seriously, I don't know why she is so excited; a D+ is nothing to smile about.'

"No I'm so happy! It's the best grade I've gotten on a quiz this year," Akari exclaimed beaming from ear to ear.

"Wow, you really are stupid," Niou commented making eye contact with the other girl.

"You ass!" Akari spat as she smacked him over the head with her notebook. Niou winced slightly, unaware of Akari's strength.

"Hey what the hell? First an eraser and now a notebook? What's next? The textbook?"

"It may as well be if you don't watch your damn mouth."

"Whatever, let's just review what you got wrong."

Akari finally sat down and got her test materials together. She watched as Niou went over what she missed. Akari was glad that she had only made a few simple mistakes. She took in his features. Hair that reminded her of priceless platinum, that shimmered when the sun hit it. Niou's eyes reminded her of the pretty topaz bacteria pools at Yellowstone National park. She was daydreaming about how they would sparkle when something interrupted her.

"So what is the answer?" Niou asked seeing the girl spacing out a little.

"Bacteria pools," Akari responded not thinking of what she was saying.

"The hell? Hoshimoto, bacteria pools have nothing to do with logarithms. Where are you in there?" Niou prodded.

"Oh huh? Oh god I'm so sorry I get spacy sometimes and lose my train of thought."

"And it goes to…bacteria pools?" Niou raised an eyebrow, "No wonder you are failing. I would be too if I went off into bacteria pool lala land."

So they started over again. Niou reviewed what Akari had missed in the last few minutes, or more like twenty. Eventually, after a lot of work, and a lot of teasing from Niou, Akari had her logarithms down pat. He gave her a small smile when, after the tenth time, she managed to get all her homework problems done correctly. Akari got up to leave and realized that Niou wasn't following her like he did last week.

"Aren't you going to catch the last train home?" she inquired, curious as to why the male was still sitting at the table.

"No, I have more homework to do. Plus I would think you would want to go study about bacteria pools, puri," Niou mocked. He tried to hide a smile when the girl's face twisted up.

"Well thank you and I shall see you next week same place, same time," Akari huffed before she headed out of the café. 'I was going to show concern about how he was going to get home, but that last mention of bacteria pools really irked me.'

Niou continued to do his homework at the table while silently smiling inward at the slip-up Akari had had during her tutoring session. 'I wonder what bacteria pools have to do with? Is it anything important?' Niou wondered. The girl had piqued his interest and he wanted to find out more about her. He was mystified and that was something that didn't sit well with him.

"Niou we're closing up. You should head home," the barista informed Niou. He got up , thanked her for her services and left the building. On his walk home for some reason Akari consumed his thoughts. For once he didn't try to stop them from coming.

(Next day)

Akari walked through the halls of school. She hoped she wasn't going to be late for her math class. Her teacher already hated her enough as it was. She was sure that if she was late one more time she would be kicked out for sure. In her rush she collided with someone dropping all her papers. She fell hard on her knee. Looking up she was quite taken aback at who she saw in front of her.

"Are you alright?" the bluenette from the other day asked.

"I think so," Akari answered.

"Let me help you," the boy answered. He bent to pick up one of her papers, but as chance would have it she reached for the same paper and they bumped heads.

"I'm so sorry," she whispered to the boy standing in front of her.

"It's alright. Are you hurt?" he inquired while looking her over. He brushed some strands of hair out of her face. Seiichi then handed her the paper that he picked up.

"Thank you…erm…what's your name again?" she asked politely a hint of blush creeping onto her cheeks.

"Yukimura Seiichi. You may call me either."

Right. Hoshimoto Akari."

"I remember you from the other day Hosimoto- san."

"Ah I see well I really must be going Yukimura- san."

"See you around," Yukimura replied walking off in the direction of his class. He really wished that he was the one tutoring her. She was so beautiful. They way her hair felt so soft between his fingers. He could run them through those long silken strands for the whole day and never get bored. As he walked to his next class he plotted just how he could get to this girl's heart.

**A/N: I didn't really know where to end the chapter but I though here was as good as any place right? Please review. I hope you enjoyed the chapter. Big thanks to SugarTensai for reviewing and support in this story. Also big thanks to oreobabz for the review. Next chapter should be up soon!**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: SO like I promised I would update this story. So here is the fourth chapter. As you can see we have introduced Yukimura into the story so what will happen? Well I suppose you will have to read on to find out ^^ A big thanks to SugarTensai and Oreobabz for their reviews… much appreciated guys. Oh and I don't own PoT, but if I did it would be a lot different.**

Yukimura stood by the gates of Rikkai before class started. He was looking for a certain chestnut haired girl. His heart skipped a beat when he saw her waking in the direction of the gate. He smiled to himself wondering what he was going to say once she got close enough. He came out of his thought just in time to see Akari trip over a crack and skin her knee. Yukimura inwardly face-palmed and quickly walked over to Akari.

Akari was nursing her bleeding knee when she realized there was a shadow over her. She looked up to see Yukimura standing over her. Akari felt as blush creep onto her cheeks. 'Why do I keep blushing like mad around this guy?' she thought.

"Are we going to keep meeting like this?" Yukimura caught the confused look on Akari's face, "I mean am I always going to have to come to your rescue or will there be sometime where we can walk together where you don't get hurt?"

"I highly doubt that," Akari scoffed at the male standing over her. She accepted his hand and stood up, but winced slightly at the pain that shot through her knee.

"Come on let's go to the nurse and get you cleaned up," Yukimura coaxed while putting an arm around the other's waist. He held her weight as they slowly made their way into the building. A few (more like ten) minutes later they arrived at the nurse's office and Yukimura gently knocked on the door.

"Hello? Oh Akari. I see you scraped your knee, again. If you could have a seat over there I will be with you shortly. I have another child that is very sick," the nurse informed shooing the two over to an empty cot.

"Ah, if you show me where the first aid kit is I can patch her up," Yukimura offered as he gently lowered Akari onto the cot.

"Thank-you Yukimura- san, that would be very helpful. The first aid kit is in that cabinet at the far end of the room. I am sure you have had enough practice patching up Kirihara- san to know what to do."

Yukimura went over and retrieved the first aid kit from the cabinet. He came back with a serene smile on his face. Akari didn't know whether to be frightened or happy. Akari then saw him take out a pair of tweezers and she stiffened.

"What are those for? I thought you were patching me up," she whispered in slight fear.

"I am, but I have to make sure that all the gravel is out so you don't get an infection. I'm sorry this might hurt a bit," Yukimura smiled apologetically. He put the tweezers into her leg and heard her gasp in slight pain. Yukimura felt so bad that he had to do this to her, but he didn't want her to get an infection either. After he was finished with the tweezers he got out some peroxide.

"No no no, please I hate peroxide. Isn't there something else in there?" Akari panicked. She hated peroxide ever since she was little.

"There isn't. Just hold onto my shoulder and everything will be fine," Yukimura promised her. He felt a small hand grip his shoulder and it only got tighter when he went to put the peroxide on it.

Akari tightened her grip on the surprisingly muscular shoulder. She hadn't expected Yukimura's shoulders to be this strong considering how slender the young man was. She saw the peroxide coming toward her knee and increased her grip strength. She gave a whimper of pain and closed her eyes when the peroxide was applied to her knee. She wanted to scream in pain, but thought it best not to do that in a nurse's office. She opened her eyes only to see a pair of blue eyes staring back at her. They were full of emotion, but the only thing that Akari picked up on was the 'I'm sorry I had to do that' in the other's eyes. Just then Yukimura reached into the first aid kit and pulled out a bandage and some gauze. He dabbed at the scrape with one piece of gauze until it was clean, and then retrieving a new piece he put it over the scrape and secured it with the bandage.

"There you are, all set to go. Can you walk?" Yukimura questioned giving Akari a once over to make sure he hadn't missed any hiding cuts or scrapes. Akari stood up tentatively like a baby deer. She winced as she put her full weight on her leg.

"Kind of," Akari admitted not wanting to seem weak.

"Well then let me walk you to class. I'll carry your bag for you."

"Thank you so much. Are you sure it isn't out of your way? I don't want you to be late."

"We are already late, Hoshimmoto, I don't see the problem in delaying my arrival a few more minutes," Yukimura laughed as he looked at the girl next to him. He scooped up her bag and thanked the nurse on the way out. Akari gave him directions to her classroom and they began to walk. It took them a good ten minutes to get there and then Yukimura realized something. Hoshimoto's classroom was only three down from his own.

"Well, here we are. Thank- you for everything. I guess I'll see you around?" Akari questioned.

"Actually my classroom is only three doors away so I was thinking I could help you to your next class too, that is, if you would like me to."

"Oh that would be wonderful, thank you."

"Then I will see you in fort-five minutes."

Akari sat through class, her thoughts drifting to Yukimura. She thought about how gentle he had been and the look in his eyes. It was a look of sorrow. She knew that it was hard for him to do that, but she couldn't figure out why. Akari spent the remainder of class trying to figure out why Yukimura had been so willing to help her. Another thing that mystified her was the fact that his class was only three doors away, but she hadn't seen him until the other day when she had run into Niou. Akari knew there was something deeper going on with the blue haired male and she was going to get to the bottom of it. She wondered if Niou would know. Perhaps she would ask him at their next tutoring session. The bell rang and she gathered her things and made her way to the door as best she could.

"Hey there where is your next class?" Yukimura asked as he saw Akari emerge.

"Oh, only over in the West hall."

"Me too. Well, let me take your bag for you and we shall be off."

Akari walked with Yukimura and let her thoughts get lost once again as to why their classes were near each other and why she had never seen him. She looked up at him and didn't realize that she had stopped in the middle of the hall.

"Hoshimoto- san?" Yukimura questioned walking over to the girl. Was she having a seizure? He had never seen someone standing in the middle of the hallway with such a blank expression on their face. Yukimura shook her shoulder and she nearly fell over.

"You scared me," she breathed.

"Are you sure you are ok?" Yukimura asked concern creeping into his voice.

"Why haven't I seen you around?" she blurted out and immediately clapped her hand over her mouth.

"Ah. That," Yukimura said getting a slightly faraway look in his eyes. He thought for a moment if he should tell this completely random stranger about his illness. He then thought it better to think it over and decide if he should tell her later.

"Is something wrong?"

"No, how about you meet me at the tennis courts after school. Are you doing anything tonight?"

"No nothing except homework," Akari responded wondering what Yukimura could be planning.

"Ok then we will have time so I can explain everything."

Yukimura dropped her off at her class and then went to his. He was thinking about how he was going to tell the girl that he was sick. He was wondering if he even should tell her. After all they had only met the other day. There was something special about Akari to him though and he felt more comfortable being around her than he did around Sanada, his best friend. He found this strange, but supposed it was that way since Akari didn't go around slapping people, to his knowledge anyway. He enjoyed having just got back since that meant he could slack off a little in class and no one would care. He let his thoughts drift to a girl with beautiful chestnut hair.

Akari was in math class and was trying her hardest to focus on the lesson at hand. Ever since Niou had become her tutor her grades were on the up and up. Today, however, she was more curious about what was going to happen after school at the tennis courts with the captain himself. Her mind was trying to come up with something that would explain his absence but she kept coming up blank. She had honestly thought that Sanada was the actual captain. Not that Yukimura couldn't be, he just didn't seem as harsh to her. She had heard Sanada slapping people and ordering laps. She had never seen Yukimura do that, but then she remembered that she had never seen him hold a practice. Akari was interested in what she was going to see today.

(Later at the tennis court)

Akari watched in awe at what she saw. She now knew why Yukimura was the captain of the team. He was amazing at what he did. He was playing all the regulars and not one of them had taken a game from him. She sat there with her mouth open just looking at how amazing the captain was.

"If you are trying to catch flies a trap would be 99.8% more effective than your mouth," a voice came from beside Akari. She squealed and fell off the bench which caused her to bite her tongue.

"Holy hell you scared me," she panted looking up at the brown- haired male. 'Who are you?' she thought as she looked at his seemingly closed eyes.

"I am Yanagi Renji," he introduced offering her a hand. Akari stood up shocked wondering how he could read her mind.

"H-Hoshimoto Akari," she responded shyly. She felt a blush creep up onto her cheeks as she felt herself being swiftly hoisted up by the strong hand. She looked at his face and smiled ever so slightly.

Renji opened his eyes and looked at the girl standing before him. No girl had ever smiled at him before. Especially not after he spouted data at them. He was shocked when Hoshimoto fainted right in front of him. Thankfully, Renji was quick enough to catch her before she hit the ground. He set her back gently on the bench and went to retrieve some water. Renji brought it back and put some of the cool water on a washcloth. He started to dab Akari's face, but Marui had another idea.

"Seriously, Renji? She'll wake up in the next century if you keep doing that," Marui chided. He took his water bottle, screwed off the top and dumped the cold water on the unconscious girl. Akari bolted upright water flying everywhere.

"The hell was that?" Akari yelled at the red head standing over her. She spluttered for a moment more and then regained what composure she had left. She looked up at the boys bangs dripping in her face.

"You fainted at the sight of something and Renji here was dabbing water on your forehead, but I decided to speed up the process a little bit. It was genius really," Marui boasted.

"That was not genius you little Oompa Loompa. Now I'm all wet and I have no change of clothes."

"What?! Oompa Loompa? They are fat and orange and have green hair," Marui fumed at the girl in front of him.

"The only thing you are missing is the hair and orange skin," Akari snapped while wringing out her hair.

"Now now how about we all just calm down," Yukimura placated while taking his jacket from around his shoulders. He placed it around Akari's shoulders and watched the girl relax a little bit.

"Thank you," she whispered. She got up from the bench and stood next to Yukimura, "So are we…"

"Yes. Practice is over for the day," Yukimura ordered. He then turned to his regulars, "I have something to discuss with Hoshimoto here. I will see you tomorrow at morning practice."

The regulars looked at their capatain as he led the girl off in the direction of the school gardens. They were curious as to what he had to tell this new girl. Was she pregnant with his child? Was she his long lost…cousin? The regulars supposed that they would find out soon enough.

Niou stood amongst the others with a calm look on his face, but inwardly he was fuming with more anger than a dragon. 'What's your game Yukimura? What do you want with Akari?' he thought. Niou then shook himself out of his thoughts. Why was he so concerned anyway? He was only Akari's math tutor. Nothing more, right? Niou realized as he thought of this he wasn't so sure of that answer anymore.

(gardens)

"So you want to know why you haven't seen me around despite the fact our classes are very close together?" Yukimura repeated the question from earlier.

"Yeah."

"Well, you see, I was in the hospital."

"You were what? What was wrong? Are you going to live?" Akari plagued Yukimura. Her eyes flashed up to meet a twinkling pair of blue ones.

Yukimura chuckled, "Yes I should be fine now. I had Guillain-Barre Syndrome. I underwent some surgery, but I should be fine now. SO nothing to worry about. There is a slight chance it could come back, but I try not to think about it. If it comes to that I will cross the bridge again."

"Wow surgery. Were you scared at all?"

"I have to admit I was. When the surgeon tells you that there is a fifty percent chance you will die on the table I think anyone would have the right to be scared."

"You can say that again."

"There is something else on your mind, something you want to say to me."

"I can't believe you had surgery and were able to play that well," a flabbergasted Akari stated.

"Yes. Tennis for me is like riding a bike. Once I learn something I tend not to forget it."

"Will you teach me?"

"Tennis? I would be honored. Come to morning practice tomorrow at seven."

" I will be there. Thank you."

Yukimura smiled and they continued their walk through the garden stopping occasionally to look at a particularly beautiful flower. Little did they know that two of Yukimura's fangirls had been watching in on the little conversation.

"How could she not know about his hospital stay?" one asked the other.

"I don't know, but the nerve of her asking him for tennis lessons! He is still recovering and she wants HIM to teach HER? I think that it is time we teach her a lesson," the other responded.

**A/N: Fangirls are always trouble, but just how much trouble will these two be? Well I suppose I'll be a nice author and tell you in the next chapter. **


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Yay so guess who is super bored today….thats right ME! I should maybe be studying for a test but who does that stuff anymore? Well here we go with the next chapter. I don't own prince of tennis. And the fangirls have names. The first one to speak in the last chapter is Mini and the second one is Haruka. See what happens in this chapter. Big thanks to Oreobabz for always reviewing and big thanks to SugarTensai for always reviewing and helping to inspire the last chapter.**

Akari walked (more like bounded joyfully) to the courts at 6:45 the next morning. She couldn't wait to start learning how to play tennis. She went to the girls' locker room and changed into her P.E clothes. Akari ran out of the locker room and down to the courts where she saw the regulars gathered around. She stood back as she heard Yukimura give the instructions to the team before sending them off. Akari cautiously approached the bluenette wondering if he had been serious.

"Yo what you doin here so early in the morning? And why are you in P.E. clothes?" Niou asked seeing Akari approaching. He had to admit though she did look cute with her hair pulled up into a messy bun.

"Yukimura is going to teach me to play tennis," Akari stated beaming from ear to ear.

"Yes I am and you will be using Renji's racket since he is going to be collecting data on all the team members today," Yukimura smiled serenely at the data master who handed his racket to the hyperactive girl.

Akari followed Yukimura over to the last court and stood at the baseline waiting for instructions. She then realized that everyone was staring at them. She wondered why this was such a big deal. She was just learning tennis from Yukimura. If she wanted to advance why not have the best person teach you?

"What are you all looking at? Get back to your drills," Yukimura barked with a tone that scared Akari slightly. She looked at him to see a steely look in his eyes. It immediately disappeared though when he turned back to her.

"So what should I do first?" Akari asked in a timid manner. She was surprised when Yukimura walked over to her. She knew next to nothing about tennis, but she wasn't an idiot. She at least knew that there was supposed to be one person on each side of the net.

"First, you need to grip the racket properly. Otherwise, you will not be able to return the ball," Yukimura explained. He also pointed out the lines and what they meant. He hadn't taught someone how to play tennis is quite a while and was happy that he could once again teach someone to play the sport. He also explained the basic scoring system to her and what counted as 'in' on the serve. Akari nodded in understanding.

"I think I have it," she said choosing her words carefully.

"OK. You do seem to understand. Would you like to do a light volley just so you can get the hang of hitting the ball back to someone? Don't worry about it being in or even if it goes over the net. Just worry about hitting it for now," Yukimura instructed. He went over to the bench and picked up his own racket and a few balls. The whole team turned to look. It had been a rare sight to see the captain play. Not to mention the captain playing against a girl was something no one had ever seen.

"TARUNDAROU! Get back to your drills now or it will be laps until the sun sets," Sanada yelled.

"Here we go," Yukimura served the ball. Akari tried to hit it but missed. She felt disappointed. Yukimura just smiled and served another ball. This time Akari managed to hit it but the ball didn't manage to clear the net.

"Does it ever go over the net?" she sighed.

"It's good that you were even able to hit that," Yukimura explained. He thought it was amusing that she was so easily frustrated by something like this. He served another ball and saw her take her stance. It was different though and he recognized it at once. Her stance was almost the same as Yagyuu's golf stance. Akari lobbed it over the net and smiled. Yukimura was still in a state of shock even when he managed to catch up to the ball and return it.

"Well at least it went over that time," she smiled at the bluenette. Her look turned to confusion though when she saw the look of shock on the captain's face. She saw Yukimura turn and motion to another member of the team. Soon a man with glasses was walking toward them a look of confusion on his face.

"Hoshimoto do you play golf?" Yukimura suddenly probed, Akari was taken aback and nodded her head, " This is Yagyuu. He was on the golf team before he joined the tennis team. He incorporates his golf into his tennis. I am going to have him help you also. That swing you just did can be very powerful when properly executed."

Yagyuu showed her how it was done and Akari tried her best to copy the same movement. She almost succeeded, but the ball hit the net. Yagyuu kept showing her and Akari kept trying. When it seemed like she had hit all the balls the tennis club possessed Yukimura finally called out to his team that it was time to pack up and shower.

"Thank you so much Yukimura-san, Yagyuu-san," Akari bowed to the boys in front of her.

"You are very welcome. How about you meet us here tomorrow same time?" Yukimura offered giving her that award winning smile.

"That would be great I'll see you then," Akari tried to return the smile, but somehow she felt she had failed. She settled for a nod and headed off to the girl's locker room. Little did she know that two others were following her. Akari slipped into the showers and left a fresh uniform on the bench right outside.

"She is in the shower. Let's activate our plan," Mini whispered to her partner. Haruka just nodded and crept silently up to the shower. She reached over to the bench making sure Akari wouldn't notice and snatched the clean uniform. Haruka looked back at her partner who nodded. She ran over to the boiler room and found the hot water switch. She turned it to off and gave a silent chuckle. She heard a small yelp and peeked out of the boiler room. Haruka saw Mini give her a shooing motion. Haruka nodded and slunk back into the boiler room just as she saw Mini hoist herself into a heating vent.

Akari was taking as shower thinking how nice the boys had been when something happened. The water went ice cold. She let out a small yelp as the breath was drawn out of her. She quickly turned off the water and squeezed out her hair. Akari grabbed her towel and stepped out of the shower. She reached on the bench for her clothes and was confused when she was met with nothing. She looked under the bench and all through the shower area. Figuring she must have left them out in the actual area with lockers she headed that way. She searched the locker area and even looked in some of the empty lockers, but she didn't find her uniform. Akari was getting angry now that she couldn't find her clothes. She was dripping wet with only a towel around her and she certainly couldn't go to class like that, nor could she skip class because that would mean she was behind and you weren't allowed to be behind at Rikkai. She was going to be late for class and that was not acceptable after what happened yesterday.

"SON OF A GUN!" she screamed punching the nearest locker her hair flying everywhere. She wasn't upset or hurt. She was livid. Whoever had done this to her was going to pay.

Niou was on his way up to the school when he heard someone scream from the girls' locker room. Before his brain could register what was happening his feet were carrying him to the door of the locker room. He went inside and what he saw made him want to laugh and cry at the same time. Akari was standing there dripping wet in a towel with her hair plastered to her face. Above all she was nursing a bleeding hand (seriously did this girl bleed as easily as Akaya?) that he assumed she had punched a locker with.

"Akari, where are your clothes?" Niou inquired making the girl jump and turn towards his voice.

"Oh Niou it's just you. It seems that someone has stolen my clothes. I have to get to class. I guess I should just grin and bear it and wear my towel uniform," she growled. Then she caught the bemused look on Niou's face and scowled.

"Give me one second and I'll be right back," Niou stated dropping his bag in front of her and running off. He ran back out to the regulars that were still standing around. He grabbed Marui's extra uniform off the bench. He then grabbed Yagyuu's shoes and finally as he was running back Niou snatched the hat right off of Sanada's head, while avoiding a slap.

"Where the hell did you go?" Akari asked. Then she saw the bundle in Niou's hands and understood. She knew there was a soft side to him. A side that he didn't let many people see. She felt lucky that she was one of the rare few. Taking the uniform she returned to the shower area and changed clothes. Right now Akari didn't care that the uniform was male or the fact that it was about a size and a half to big. She was worried though. It wasn't good to have all her hair down like this. The teachers didn't like it, which she claimed as nonsense, but still she couldn't go around breaking the rules all the time.

"You look fabulous," Niou sarcastically commented when he saw her come out of the shower area.

"Oh shut up. I look odd. Everything is a bit big, not like I care. It's more the hair that I am worried about. Sensei will kill me if I have all of it down and in my face."

"Here," Niou took the tie of his rattail and handed it to her. Akari took it giving him a curious look. She tried to get her bangs to cooperate too but they just wouldn't stay back out of her face. She heard a giggle beside her and then felt something plopped on her head. Akari removed the object to see that it was a hat. Well that was useful. She put her ponytail through the back and secured her bangs under the cap.

"Thank you. Shall we get going before we are late?" Akari offered to Niou.

"We should, puri."

Akari headed up to the school with Niou following behind. She was happy that there was someone there to help her when she needed it. Even if it was Niou. The day was going to turn out alright after all, or so she thought.

Niou glanced over his shoulder an uneasy feeling coming over him. He felt like this day was going to be a very long one indeed. He was positive this wasn't the only time he would have to come to Akari's rescue. He saw her to her class and walked to his own taking his time. He ended up getting yelled at and detention from the teacher for being late, but today he didn't really care. He was worried about a certain copper haired girl.

Akari sat in class feeling very unnerved about what had happened this morning. Niou had said that he would help her out all day. She was thankful for that, but she also wanted to get revenge on whoever had done this to her. No one messed with her and got away with it that easily. She decided to forget about it for now and focused on the lesson. Soon she found herself walking out of class. There seemed to be something off about the hallways today and then suddenly Akari realized what it was, there were snickers behind her. She whipped around to see two girls standing behind her.

"Hey, Hoshimoto, isn't that Marui-kun's uniform?" Mini sneered at the girl in front of her.

"And Sanada- kun's hat?" Haruka questioned.

"Yes and what is it to you?" Akari bit back. She was thoroughly annoyed with these girls and whatever stupid ideas they had in their heads.

"Well, maybe you should give that hat back to Sanada," Mini teased as she snatched the hat off Akari's head.

"And maybe you should look a little more like Marui," Haruka laughed as she took out a bottle. Akari's eyes widened at the sight. She would not stand for this. She tried to duck as Haruka opened the bottle. Akari dodged the first few splashes, but soon her luck ran out and she felt some sort of glop being poured on her head. She realized that her head was covered in spaghetti sauce. She stood up copper locks flying, flinging some pasta sauce to the floor. Her expression was livid and Haruka and Mini shrank back a little, but held their ground.

"Are you ready to pay for what you have done?" Akari glowered at the two females in front of her.

"Only if you are ready for more pasta sauce," Mini shot back some fear creeping into her voice.

"Bring it on sister."

Just then Haruka jabbed Mini in the ribs and pointed behind Akari. Mini froze in her spot and Akari gave both girls a confused look. She really wasn't that intimidating, or at least she didn't think so. Then she found out why the girls were so scared.

"TARUNDAROU!" Came a loud yell from behind Akari. Haruka and Mini winced at the loud sound. Akari turned around and saw the stoic Sanada standing behind her. She became worried when the man walked over to the two girls. 'Is he going to slap them?' she wondered. Much to Akari's relief Sanada did not slap the girls, but simply snatched his hat back. Then his eyes narrowed.

"We didn't mean any harm, we were just having some fun," Haruka squeaked as she shrunk back.

"Both of you to the headmasters office. Hoshimoto go with Niou and Marui. They will help you," Sanada ordered as he took Haruka and Mini by the wrists and led them to the Headmaster's office to make sure they didn't escape.

"Gee. First the no clothes thing and now you have sauce in your hair?" Niou chuckled.

"It seems she has a knack for trouble," Marui commented popping his gum.

"No I usually don't," AKari countered, " Just today. I don't know what I did or who I offended, but someone is definitely out to get me."

"Well, I bet it was those two girls. So let's get you cleaned off and to your next class," Niou stated. He was wondering how Akari could be so blind that it was obviously the two girls Sanada had just dragged away that were the ones out to get her. They took Akari to the tennis clubroom outside of the school and got to work getting her cleaned up.

Marui massaged some shampoo into Akari's copper locks and relished at how smooth they were. He gently poured some warm water over her head carefully avoiding her eyes. As he squeezed out her hair he saw it shone like a new American penny. He ran his fingers through her locks to get out the tangles and reveled at how smooth and silky they were. Marui found a fresh towel and dried off the girl's hair. Marui got out a comb and ran it through Akari's hair careful not to tug to hard. He then took the delicate strands and started to braid her hair.

Niou sat back flabbergasted that his friend knew how to do all this with hair. Marui was such a _girl_ it was unbelievable. He saw the look in his teammate's eyes when Marui combed his fingers through Akari's locks. The look in the tensai's eyes was a caring look, something Niou had never seen on Marui before. He watched on stunned until Marui toweled off Akari's neck and informed her that he was done.

"Does your family run a salon, Marui-kun?" Akari asked curious about the red head in front of her.

"No I just picked that up a while ago," Marui sheepishly admitted popping his gum.

"Because he is a girl," Niou smirked.

"Because I am a genius," Marui countered ice creeping into his voice.

"Well thank- you very much Marui-kun. Shouldn't we all be getting to class," Akari offered trying to ease the tension between the two.

"I suppose we should so we don't get in trouble," Niou replied. The three headed off towards the school to go to their respective classes.

(headmasters office)

Mini and Haruka had been given detention for their actions. Both girls were not surprised to hear this. They had figured as much, but thought it a worthy sacrifice for their beloved Yukimura. After the headmaster had dismissed them to class the girls began to talk once more.

"Well I can't wait for this afternoon," Mini snickered.

"Me either. That Akari will never know what hit her," Haruka darkly chuckled.

The girls exchanged one last glance before heading off to their respective classes. The glance was a mischievous one that conveyed their excitement about their plan that was to be put in motion that very afternoon.

**A/N: phew that took a while to update. My apologies. I had a test today and had to study over the weekend. I will still try to update at least once a week although another class has been thrown into the mix as well. I do hope you enjoyed this chapter. We all appreciate reviews so if you could leave one that would be great. **


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: SO yea I guess I got a little bored while studying and decided that writing sounded like a better idea. So here is your next chapter of the story. I don't own PoT sadly. Don't worry I am not slacking off…my eyes just need to see something being typed and not reading a bunch of textbooks. Thank you and enjoy. **

Akari walked out of her class and headed down to the class that she dreaded the most, P.E. She was not looking forward to playing volleyball today. AKari was horrible at it: not knowing when to hit the ball, where to hit it, or what any of the terminology meant. She then remembered that she had no clean gym shorts. She was going to be in so much trouble. Akari went into the locker room and sat down putting her head in her hands until she felt a tap on the shoulder.

"Ayame-chan?" she asked skeptically looking at the girl that had never even acknowledged her existence before.

"Here you can borrow these," Ayame offered, "Go on take them they are my extra shorts and shirt. Just give them back tomorrow when you have clean P.E. clothes."

"Thank you so much!" Akari exclaimed taking the proffered shorts and shirt running off to get changed.

Ayame smiled as she whipped out her cell phone and sent a text to Mini. Their plan was finally in action and it was only a matter of time before Akari learned not to disrupt their precious Seiichi. Ayame got out her clothes and went to change. Volleyball was going to be interesting.

Akari was at the net ready to take a ball when she felt her skin twitch a little. She ignored it thinking it to just be an itch. She kept on playing, to the best of her ability, only to find the itching growing worse. Soon it was all over her body and she couldn't stop it. Akari started to scratch all parts of her body. Finally, after a few minutes she realized what had happened, Ayame had put itching powder in her clothes. She looked around to see all the girls laughing at her antics and she felt like she was about to cry. She ran out of the gym ignoring the calls of her teacher. She ran out into the hall and thought she heard footsteps behind her. She tried to run harder, but she could tell that her legs were growing weaker.

"Would you stop running away from me?" The stranger panted. Akari turned around to see Niou jogging behind her.

"N-niou? You came after me?" She almost sobbed out.

"Yes I did. No more chatter for right now. I'm taking you somewhere," Niou informed as he took her hand and they resumed jogging until they were out of the school. Akari wondered where the silver-haired boy was going to take her. She had never cut class before, but for some reason this time she didn't mind doing it. Especially since she was doing it with Niou. She gasped at her thought and then she looked around her and realized they were nearing the beach. She did like the beach and was thankful that he would bring her to such a peaceful place. Then she realized that she was being steered away from the beach and towards the high sand dunes. She instantly got scared at what he was doing.

"Where are we going? What are we doing?" Akari pleaded tugging Niou back towards the beach.

"Can you dive?" He mysteriously asked.

"You are going to ask me to jump off a cliff?" Akari asked baffled as she itched herself a bit more.

"It's not a cliff, more like a five foot drop over some deepish water," he commented feeling kind of weird. Yeah, like he would ask someone he met not too long ago to jump off a cliff. He may be a trickster, but he wasn't a psychopath.

"Oh,"Akari replied feeling stupid.

"Let's go then," Niou encouraged as he started to drag Akari behind him. Akari felt a rush of excitement when Niou touched her hand. Even though her mind was saying she was crazy and shouldn't do what she was about to, but something in her heart told her this moment was so right.

Then Akari saw the edge of the small drop off and braced herself. She felt a final tug on her arm before she was falling through the air. Seconds later she hit cold water and the air was pushed out of her lungs. After getting over the initial shock that the cold water had offered she started to swim towards the surface of the water. She got to the surface and took in a gasped in a lung full of air. She shook her head and looked around her for Niou. She didn't see him anywhere. Akari started to panic thinking that something bad might have happened to him. Just as she was about to call out his name she saw some silver hair pop above the water.

"Niou, I'm over here," she called waving her arms. The figure started to swim towards her and she smiled as the silver-haired boy approached her.

"I know this is going to sound really weird, but you might want to take those gym clothes off. They will only make it worse if you leave them on," was the first thing that Niou panted out when he got to Akari.

"I suppose that makes sense," she contemplated before shoving the shorts down off her hips. She then took the shirt off and flung it away.

"Now you are in a bikini," Niou teased. He saw the look of anger in her eyes and tried to quell it immediately, "I was just kidding. You can have my shirt when we get out of the ocean. I know that it is wet, but I guarantee that it doesn't have itching powder in it."

"Thank you," she whispered. She was about to head for the shore when an arm stopped her.

"Hey let's swim around a little. If we are going to skip the rest of the day then we might as well have some fun while we are here," Niou laughed. He saw the look of shock on Akari's face as he floated on his back.

"The rest of the day?!" Akari exclaimed, "No, no, no we are NOT missing the rest if school. I think we have already missed half of the next period and I can't be marked absent for all of those classes. I have to keep ahead if I don't then I will fall behind and my parents…" Akari trailed off as she felt a finger on her lips.

"You need to learn to chill out and relax a little more in life. Just take it easy for the rest of the day. I don't want any more pranks being pulled on you," Niou explained as he removed his finger from her lips. Honestly, this girl could do with a chill pill every now and again.

"Or maybe you just need to take school more seriously," she snapped at him her eyes narrowing.

"Maybe I do, who knows," Niou remarked as he looked at her. He admired Akari's beauty for all it was worth. Some strands of her hair had come out of the braid that she had in and were freely dangling in her face. Her wet braid shone like a new penny in the afternoon sun and as her eyes met his he was lost in those beautiful blue pools. Her eyes were not a normal blue but a soft rich blue with hues of purple and ice around the outside. Niou didn't care if he drowned right then and there as long as those eyes were the last thing he was staring in to. He looked up to take in her features. Her high cheekbones swept down into graceful pink lips. Her jawline firm but feminine and her neck long and gracious like a swan's, but not without its own strength. Her fair skin shown in the sunlight and for once Niou felt himself losing control. How much did he want to take that girl in his arms and kiss her? Why did he want to make sure that no one ever hurt her again? He had never been so enamored with someone and Akari was just the person that he felt was going to change all that.

"Are you OK?" Akari's voice broke him out of his trance. She was treading water next to him her eyebrows knotted.

"Yeah I'm fine."

"Then why are you just staying in that one spot? I thought you said we were going to have some fun? So come on, loser, lets have some fun," she teased as she splashed water in his face.

"Why you little…" Niou growled before chasing after her. He caught up with her and grabbed her foot making her struggle a bit. Akari dove under the water pulling him down with her. They both came up gasping for air and laughing. She looked into those beautiful eyes and relaxed. Niou had been right it was worth it to take the day off and just relax for a little even if it meant she would get in trouble for it later. She swam around him a couple times before stopping to tread in agitation. She needed to rest her body. She motioned for Niou to come with her to the shore. He followed and was the first out of the water. He took his shirt off and Akari thought she was going to die right there in the water. His chiseled body was too perfect to be human. Her thoughts were interrupted by his shirt flying at her face. She threw it on over her undergarments and climbed out of the water. She followed Niou not knowing where they were going. Soon she found herself walking towards a house on a nice block not far from the beach. She was shocked when Niou went up to one of the houses, took a key out of a fake shrubbery, and opened the door to the house.

"T-this is where you live?! Akari gaped at the nice house she was seeing before her. She lived in a small shanty compared to what Niou had.

"Well come on in. I'm sure my sister has something that will fit you," Niou responded casually, "You don't want to go home in my t-shirt people might get the wrong idea."

"OH MY GOD! Home. My parents are going to be furious with me. I don't know what to do. They might lock me in my room," she nearly wailed.

"Hey calm down it will be alright I promise," Niou reassured the girl in front of him. He took her hand once again and led her upstairs to the landing. He walked over to another door and knocked on it gently.

"Masaharu what do you want now?" a voice huffed from the other side.

"I need your help nee-san. A friend of mine needs some clothes. She is currently wearing my t-shirt."

Just then the door burst open and an older looking girl with skunk hair came rushing out. She ran right over to Akari and then looked back at her brother.

"Oh my gods, Masaharu! She is adorable. I will get her some proper clothes right away," and with that the older girl dragged Akari into her room to get her some suitable clothes. Soon she was dragging Akari back out in a light purple sundress that was embellished with red roses. Akari's hair was taken out and it now fell down around her face and onto her shoulders in a crimped fashion.

"Oh my I need to call my parents!" AKari exclaimed as she rushed over to the phone and dialed her number. The phone rang twice before the line clicked signaling that someone had picked up. "Hello? Mother…yes…yes…I'll be there soon…alright goodbye." Akari hung up the phone and turned to the other two on the landing with a solemn look.

"What happened?" Niou coaxed.

"I need to go home now. I'm sorry. I'll see you at school, hopefully," Akari stated without emotion before she ran out the door.

Niou watched her go out the front door. The last word she uttered was what worried him the most. Hopefully. What did that mean? What were her parents going to do to her that would make it impossible for her to go to school? He was going to find out.

**A/N: Very sorry to the delay that it took for me to update this I have been busy with many things. Such things do include school and I have a few exams coming up so my advanced apologies if the updates are scattered. I am also researching schools and trying to get my parents to let me go overseas… there is a beautiful college in Switzerland situated near a lake the color of Fuji's eyes (from the anime) that really the only way I can describe the lake. **


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: So per he request of some I am writing a V-Day chapter. I know that for most of you Valentine's Day is already over (hope you got chocolates to the right people) but here it is still going on for a bit. I hope you enjoy this chapter and all that it has to bring. This chapter does fit into the story so whatever happens here will influence the next chapter. I don't own PoT….ENJOY **

Niou was worried the next day when he didn't see Akari in school. Her words kept haunting him as he walked from class to class. Hoperfully. That was the one word that stuck in his mind and the one he had hoped wouldn't come true. He wanted to know what was wrong with her and he wanted to know why she was not here today. Niou's mind raced through the possibilities and he tried to push the worse scenarios out of his mind, but they kept resurfacing.

"I'm sure she will be fine," Marui stated as he popped his gum. Niou turned to stare at him.

"I know I'm just worried is all."

"Did something happen yesterday?"

"Kind of. Not really," Niou quickly corrected not wanting to tell his teammate what had happened between him and the beautiful girl.

"Ok, whatever," Marui shrugged as he popped his gum. Because you are such a troublesome

Niou continued on like nothing was wrong, but everything was wrong. His chest hurt and his heart ached. He couldn't fathom why Akari wasn't at school. Especially since it was Valentine's Day. All throughout the day he worried as to where she could be and what she was doing. Yukimura even asked about her and stated his concern that she wasn't in school. Niou just shrugged it off as if he didn't know, even though he figured Yukimura knew something was up.

At practice that day after school Niou wasn't his usual self. He had trouble reading his opponents and he couldn't seem to get his illusions down pat. In the end Yukimura sent him home early claiming that Niou needed his rest. As Niou passed Yukimura on his way out the captain murmured something to him.

"Find her. Just pleas find her Niou," Yukimura almost pleaded. Niou nodded his understanding before gathering his things and leaving.

(that evening at Akari's household)

"Why did you skip school young lady?" Akari's mother snapped. Arisa Hoshimoto had fire in her eyes and looked as if she was about to spew it from her mouth. She shot the look across to her eldest daughter who was looking rather tired.

"Some girls put itching powder in my clothes during gym class and I ran off. One of the male students followed me and we ran to the ocean where I rinsed off. He took me back to his house and his sister got me some clothes that fit. I left all of my things at school so that is why Ido not have any books with me," Akari gently explained for the third time. She was hoping by now that her mother would get the picture. She was thankful that her father was on a business trip or she would have been sent to god knows where on the planet.

"THAT is the excuse? THAT is the EXCUSE you give me young lady? For now you will be allowed to stay there, but mark my words when your father gets home we will ship you off to the school that is in Hokkaido because you are such a troublesome child. This is just a repeat of that Atsushi guy or whatever his name was from St. Rudolph. I knew we shouldn't have let you stay here one minute longer when all that happened," Arisa yelled at her daughter.

"Can't you ever let it go mother? It is a holiday and for once can't you just deal with the fact that I am picked on in school. I am the victim here and I needed to be away from that place. They were going to keep picking on me if I didn't leave," Akari sighed as she pinched the bridge of her nose.

"I will not ignore your nonsense young lady."

"Fine mother, the I will ignore YOU," Akari spat as she swiftly got out of the chair she was sitting in and made for the door.

"If you walk out that door then you will not be allowed back in this house," he mother threatened.

"Then I guess I don't live here anymore,"Akari deadpanned as she stepped out the door. She ran until she was at the foot of the driveway. She stopped once and turned to look behind her at the house she once lived in. She felt no remorse though having walked out of there when she did. But then a curious thought came to her. If she didn't mind leaving then why were there a few tears dripping down her pale cheeks? Akari knew that she had to get away from that place as soon as she possibly could. She did the only thing she could think of and she began to run. She kept running not knowing where she was going or why she was running for such a long distance, when she ran into someone. Akari fell over landing hard on her butt and letting out a small yelp of pain.

"Are you alright?" a familiar voice asked laced with concern. Akari looked up because she could swear she heard that voice before. She was taken aback at the person who stood in front of her.

"Yuuta?" she asked in bewilderment. She had not expected to see him this far south.

"A-akari?" he stammered. Her beauty had grown since he last saw her. Yuuta didn't know how that was possible at all since she was the picture of a goddess last year. The girl that sat before him though was nowhere near a goddess. Akari looked broken and there were tears silently rolling down her face. Yuuta wondered if her mother had done something again. Akari had confided in him that her mother was very strict and that certain rules had to be followed in her household. That was shown when she made Akari leave St. Rudolph because Atsushi had taken her out and brought her home five minutes past curfew.

"What are you doing this far south?" Akari voiced her question.

"There is a sushi shop here that I really like so I decided to go there for Valentine's Day…you know?" Yuuta breathed out. To say he was nerous around Akari was a severe understatement. A girl had never made him feel like he was going to pass out or pee his pants in nervousness like she did. The butterflies were almost too much to bear at this point and Yuuta thought he was going to throw up that sushi all over the girl in front of him.

"So did the lady already go home?" Akari had a hint of jealousy in her voice.

"W-what l-lady? I-it was just m-me," Yuuta found himself stuttering again as he admitted to the girl in front of him thathe had spent Valentine's Day alone.

"What?! What is wrong with those girls? You are so sweet and no one even went out with you? Crazy ass ladies," Akari mumbled being more mad now.

"Don't worry about it. Are you OK? Did something happen?" Yuuta prodded.

"My mom got mad that I skipped school again because some girls put itching powder in my clothes. She said that if I left the house I was not welcome back. And I left," AKari had started to cry again. Yuuta just looked on in horror not believing what he was hearing.

"SO you have nowhere to go?"

"Don't be silly, Yuuta. My mother's threats are empty and they always will be. She will be looking for me by the end of the week at the latest."

"Well, how about you come over and stay at my place," Yuuta blurted out before he was really thinking about what he was saying. His cheeks turned a shade redder than a stop sign as he waited for the response.

"Thank- you Yuuta that would be nice," Akari softly agreed.

"Please don't cry anymore. I don't think I can handle it."

"I'll try. Hey Yuuta?"

"Yeah?"

"Happy Valentine's Day," Akari said. After she said that she found herself attracted to Yuuta in a way she hadn't before. Before she knew what she was doing she had wound her arms around Yuuta's neck and closed the gap between them.

"Uh uh uh uh," was all Yuuta managed to get out before he felt soft lips touch his. Yuuta was so shocked that for a moment he didn't react. And then he found himself kissing her back as he pulled her a bit closer. When they broke the kiss there was only one thing Yuuta could say. "Happy Valentine's Day Akari." It had truly been the best Valentine's Day ever for him.

Niou looked on from the shadows. To think that he was worried about Akari when all she did was cut to be with some boy that he didn't know. Niou's blood boiled at the thought of Akari with another boy. He turned only to see them kissing each other. Niou stormed off wondering why he was so angry. Had yesterday meant nothing to her? For once in his short life Niou Masaharu was feeling a slight hint of heartbrokenness.

**A/N: So now the plot is heating up with the twist of Yuuta being added. Please leave a review as to what you think! **


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: So here is the next chapter of X is 3! I hope you all enjoy and don't forget to leave a review! Thank you to all who have followed this far and who continue to support me. I want to dedicate this chapter to SugarTensai for keeping me on track and inspiring the humor for this story. I don't own PoT.**

Yuuta led a stunned Akari to his dorm room. They tiptoed their way in and shut the door quietly. Akari shot Yuuta a glare before flopping down on his bed. He came over to sit next to her and when he looked at her face he was met with cold eyes.

"I thought you said I would be staying at your place. I thought you meant your house not the dorms. Everyone is going to think we are together or something," AKari hissed. True, she had just kissed said boy in front of her and true she did like him, but there was something missing between them and she just couldn't put her finger on it.

"Well I go home for the weekend tomorrow and you can come then. Anyways we need to get you some more clothes. I'm sure my sister will have some and we can get you some at the mall," Yuuta tried to placate the girl. All he got in response was a huff.

"Hey man who you talking to in there? Can I come in?" a voice asked followed by a light knock. Akari visibly stiffened at the voice she heard. It was Atsushi and she was nervous. She didn't want to be seen by that person. The person whose heart she had to break because her mother forced her to leave St. Rudolph. Akari looked at Yuuta and shook her head no, but it was too late. Atsushi had opened the door and started to walk in.

Yuuta stood up to block him. Atsushi tried to move around him, but couldn't and then finally his eye caught the person sitting on Yuuta's bed, Akari.

"Akari? What are you doing here? What happened? Are you OK?" Atsushi plagued the girl with questions. He then saw that she was shaking. He tried to approach her, but once again found himself stopped by Yuuta.

"Maybe you should leave before she becomes more upset, Atsushi," Yuuta deadpanned. He watched as his friend walked silently out the door a look of fear on his face. He then turned back to Akari and sighed inwardly when he found that she was once again crying. Yuuta didn't know what came over him, but he found himself sitting down next to her and putting his arm around her shoulders. Akari instinctively moved closer to the warmth of Yuuta making the male blush furiously.

"I'm sorry Yuuta. He is just the whole reason I had to leave last year. And I know I broke his heart and I am just not ready to face all of that," she whispered. All she felt in response was a squeeze on the shoulder. She nodded and just sat there enjoying the company of Yuuta. She was looking forward to going to Yuuta's house the next day. She knew that he had other siblings but she had never met them. She heard that Yuuta's brother was the talk of the tennis world as well as the ladies. A thought then occurred to her. Where was she going to sleep? The room only contained one bed and two chairs.

"You will take the bed and I will arrange something for myself," Yuuta answered herunvoiced thought as he got up. He went to his closet and got out a fresh pair of sheets. He motioned for Akari to stand up and he made quick work of changing the sheets on the bed and setting down a fresh pillow.

"You didn't have to go to the trouble Yuuta."

"Please, you are a lady and plus I highly doubt you would want to have the smell of me after training plaguing your senses even if it is for one night."

Just then another knock came and Yuuta nearly threw the pillow at the wall. He just wanted the poor girl to be left alone, but he went to the door and opened it only to see Mizuki on the other side twirling his hair.

"I have come to confirm the rumors that you are breaking the rules by having a girl in your room," Mizuki drawled. He peered around Yuuta and a smirk crept onto his face, "Apparently Atsushi isn't crazy as we thought he was. Hello, Akari." He looked over at her just in time to see her flat fly at his face. Mizuki narrowly dodged it and looked at the girl in bewilderment.

"I don't ever remember giving you permission to call me by my first name, Hajime," she smirked back. She had always thought Mizuki was a creep and needed to be in a solitary space on an island far away from the mainland of Japan.

"I'm going home tomorrow so I don't see the harm in one night," Yuuta offered to Mizuki.

"I suppose I can't kick you out since you still have to train, but she can't leave your room, understood?" Mizuki asked looking hard at Yuuta. Yuuta nodded and offered a smile to Akari. She nodded back in agreement and Mizuki left with a smirk on his face. This was going to be interesting.

"Sorry about that," Yuuta started to apologize as soon as he had closed the door.

"He just doesn't know when to keep his nose out of people's business does he?" Akari chuckled.

"No he doesn't. I have training with him in about an hour and then there is dinner, but I will sneak something back for you," Yuuta offered. His brow knitted in confusion when he saw the look on Akari's face.

"Why are you training with him?" she folded her arms across her chest and cocked an eyebrow.

"He is helping me to beat my brother," Yuuta responded looking sheepish.

"Why do you have to beat your brother? I mean you are really good on your own and I don't see why you can't just accept who you are," Akari scolded on the verge of tears again.

Yuuta looked at her with amazement. No one had ever called him out about beating his brother so harshly before and now here was a girl that he had only known for a year doing just that. He sighed and looked at her not having a good explanation.

"I mean do whatever you want it is your decision I was just wondering. While you are at practice do you mind if I read some of your textbooks?" she asked with an innocent look on her face.

"No go ahead, I don't care. I finished all my homework for the weekend."

The two sat and caught up for a little before Yuuta realized the time and apologized as hee left for practice. Akari was a bit sad to see him leave, but she decided that she would have some fun reading his books and doing her hair again. So first things first she somehow found a comb in Yuuta's room and started to run it through her long copper strands. Then carefully separating it out she began to braid her hair. Once it was in a full braid she held it in her hand while she looked for something to secure it with. The only thing she could find was some spare grip tape and she decided that it would have to do for now. She wound it around and then set off to study some of Yuuta's books for no good reason.

Yuuta came back from practice and dinner carrying a box with him. He looked at Akari sitting on his bed reading a book and chuckled that she was so absorbed in his history book. He hated history, but Yuuta knew that history was one of Akari's strong suits. He headed over to her, box of food in hand.

"Hey Akari, I'm back and I have some food with me if you are hungry," Yuuta explained to the girl. Her head snapped up a momentary look of shock on her face, but it was quickly replaced with a smile of gratitude. She accepted the box and smiled even wider when she realized he had brought her pancakes. She ate them carefully all the while chatting with Yuuta. After a while of chatting Akari yawned signaling that she was getting tired. Yuuta nodded and yawned as well. He rummaged through his closet and found a blanket for her.

"Goodnight, Akari," he whispered as he covered her with the blanket. She snuggled into the pillow as she mumbled something sounding like a 'goodnight Yuuta.'

(the next day)

Yuuta woke Akari after he had finshed packing for the weekend. He had messaged his mother and told her that they would be having an extra guest and that they would be catching an earlier train home. His mother didn't mind and was happy to help. He was only worried about his brother at this point.

"I am really excited to finally see where you live and meet your family," Akari squealed as she took a sip of her coffee. They were waiting for the train and had gotten some breakfast and coffee to go.

"They aren't really that special. Nee-san is pretty and very nice, Kaa-san is very hospitable, aniki is just well you'll see," Yuuta sighed. He really hoped that Akari would not be like all the other girls he had met who fawned over his brother.

The boarded the train together and in no time they were nearing the stop. Yuuta was hoping most of his family wasn't home while Akari was almost bouncing out of her seat. Yuuta hated her hyperactivity so early in the morning, but he couldn't blame her.

They arrived at the Fuji household shortly after and Yuuta held open the door for a stunned Akari. She was looking at the interior like she had never seen a house before. It was quaint and elegant all at the same time. There was just enough furniture to fill the space without crowding it.

"I'm home," Yuuta called out hoping that only his kaa-san would be home. He, however, was very disappointed when she did not answer and instead his aniki came walking into the entrance hall.

"Saa…Yuuta welcome home. I presume this is our guest?" Fuji asked looking at the girl in front of him, "Care to introduce us?"

"Aniki this is Akari Hoshimoto, Akari this is my brother Syuuske," Yuuta mumbled somewhat irritated.

"Nice to meet you, Syuuske," Akari politely stated although there was a hint of ice in her voice.

"Nice to meet you too, Hoshimoto-san," Fuji chuckled. He decided he would pull out his big weapon considering he hadn't missed the ice in her voice. Fuji opened his eyes and stared directly at Akari. She gasped and looked into the liquid sapphire pools in front of her. Soon though they were blocked by someone.

"Aniki, there is really no need to scare our guest on her first day here," Yuuta deadpanned looking at his brother. He didn't like it when his brother would open his eyes just to make girls go weak at the knees.

"Saa….I was not trying to scare her, Yuuta. What would you like for dinner? Kaa-san and nee-san went out tonight so we have to fend for ourselves."

"Do you have bacon?" Akari sheepishly asked the tensai in front of her.

"Yes. But I think we will need to eat a little more than bacon to eat," Syuuske trailed off as he saw Akari was already heading towards the kitchen.

Akari knew what she wanted to make and she set to work chipping up lettuce and toasting the bread. Soon she was cooking bacon and both btothers were wandering in wondering what she was making. They gaped when they saw three club sandwiches sitting on the table with glasses of water. They sat down and enjoyed the meal that Akari had made without hurting herself.

"So are you going to be staying around this area then?" Yuuta inquired as he took a bite of the sandwich.

"No. I can't just drop out of school like that. I have to go back. I think I will return on Sunday and try to find somewhere to stay," Akari replied taking as sip of water.

"You left in the middle of the year when you attended St. Rudolph. I don't see why you just can't come back."

"Saa… Yuuta don't be rude she must have her reasons. Just let her do what she needs to. Plus Atsushi would be beside himself if she came back."

"True, aniki, but we all miss her. I even miss her and we were never that close."

"Oi, idiots. Why are you talking like I am not here and where is my thanks? I just made you dinner and I am the GUEST," Akari emphasized.

"Saa… you are right. Thank you Akari the food is delicious."

"And I want to go back to Rikkai. They have a great program there and I think I can advance."

"I see well you know you are always welcome here," Yuuta stated picking at the remaining bits of his sandwich. Just then a door opening interrupted their thoughts. Two females were heard chattering as they walked into the house.

"We're home!" Yumiko called. She rushed into the living room disappointed to find no one was there.

"We are in the kitchen nee-chan," Syuuske replied rubbing his temples. He honestly could not understand his sister sometimes.

"Where is she? Where is this guest?" Yumiko squealed rushing into the kitchen. She almost knocked over a glass she was moving so fast. "OH you must be Akari! How nice to meet you I am Yumiko."

"Don't smother her," Yuuta mumbled.

"Hello, it is nice to meet you dear," an older looking woman greeted. Akari assumed she was the mother and bowed appropriately. They chatted for a while getting to know each other when suddenly Akari yawned. She was tired beyond belief and just wanted to get some rest.

"I am so sorry. I am really tired, is it alright if I go to bed?" Akari politely inquired.

"Of course dear. Yumiko please show our guest to her room and provide her with some night clothes."

Akari followed Yumiko upstairs and smiled a goodnight at the two young men still sitting on the couch. The smiled back at her and waved a goodnight. Akari was surprised at how elegant the upstairs of the house was. She was led through double doors to a suite that had a large queen bed in the middle. The bathroom was huge and the walk in closet could have been someone else's room. Yumiko left her there staring and came back with a few essentials.

"Here are some of my pajamas and here are some toiletries. I hope you have a nice rest. I will see you in the morning," Yumiko commented.

"I will and I hope you do as well," Akari bowed. As soon as Yumiko left Akari went into the bathroom and brushed teeth. She then proceeded to put on the silky pajamas that were given to her by Yumiko. They were so nice, but nothing compared to the Egyptian cotton sheets that she snuggled under in the bed. As soon as Akari's head hit the fluffy pillow she was asleep.

(the next day)

Akari awoke to the smell of coffee and pancakes. 'I like pancakes,' she thought as she let the smell fill her nostrils. Akari then bolted upright realizing that breakfast was being served. She flew down the stairs and into the kitchen almost crashing into Syuuske. He stopped just in time, but didn't miss getting hit with her flying braid.

"Slow down we aren't going to starve you. This is a house not a hotel," Yuuta laughed from his seat at the table. His expression turned sour when his older brother grabbed Akari's braid and ran his hand along it.

"Saa… is this Yuuta's grip tape?" he asked playing with the end of her hair. He smiled at her and Akari thought she felt the room get a little colder.

"Y-yes. I didn't have anything and I found this laying there on his floor the other day," Akari blushed furiously.

"Aniki stop trying to hit on her," Yuuta rolled his eyes. He quickly ushered Akari over to her chair and set down a plate in front of her. She smiled up at him and dug in at a surprisingly fast rate. Yumiko giggled as Yuuta was hit with some rogue blueberries flying from the girl's mouth. Akari quickly finished her breakfast not noticing she had blueberries all over face and in her hair. She smiled innocently at Yuuta not noticing the blueberry stain on his shirt.

"I think I am going to go get a shower. I shall be back in a few moments," Akari bounded out of the room and up the stairs where she turned on the shower and let thoughts run through her mind as the hot water ran over her skin. She couldn't believe that she had met up with Yuuta let alone kissed him. She didn't want to break his heart, but she didn't know if she was into him that way.

(meanwhile downstairs)

"She is really cute Yuuta," Yumiko teased.

"Shut-up. She is going back to Rikkaidai tonight," Yuuta snapped looking at them.

"Why can't she just take the morning train?"

"Because you two will not stop picking on her and aniki can't stop hitting on her."

"What can I say? She is really cute and I have hormones," Syuuske sighed.

"Shut-up. She goes back tonight," Yuuta said.

"We will behave so she can stay," Yumiko compromised. Yuuta nodded and just then they heard someone coming back into the kitchen. They looked up to see Akari walk in.

"I would like to take the earliest train I possibly can. I do need to find somewhere to stay and possibly a job," Akari explained. All the Fuji siblings nodded in agreement and then Yumiko got up and stretched.

"Well I am going to go get a shower and then you and I are going clothes shopping, Akari."

Soon Akari found herself being whisked off to the nearest mall in Yumiko'y got there Akari was excited. She hadn't been to the mall in a while and she was looking forward to getting some new clothes. The girls went in to multiple stores picking out everything from sunglasses to furry boots. They had lunch at a nearby restaurant and then went back for a bit more shopping before dinner. Both walked to the car weighed down with bags. They set them in the back seat and got into the front of the car while laughing about a joke that Akari had just told. It was a rather stupid one, but both girls still found it funny. They got into the car and drove home. When they entered the house shopping bags in hand they were greeted by the smell of dinner. The boys came out and helped them carry Akari's things to the living room. They all went in and sat down to dinner. Syuuske and Yuuta were curious about the shopping day the girls had had. Yumiko and Akari took turns relaying little bits of the day while laughing. The boys seemed to thoroughly enjoy the conversation. Soon though they were all yawning from the day's activities. Yuuta and Akari were the first to head off to bed and Yuuta saw Akari off to her room. Before she entered the double doors Yuuta planted a kiss on her forehead.

"Good night, Akari. Sleep well," Yuuta crooned.

"You as well, Yuuta," Akari murmured. She then rose up on her toes and pecked Yuuta on the cheek before going into her room. She didn't look back or else she would have seen a boy with the face the color of a tomato standing near the door of the guest bedroom.

(The last day of the weekend)

Even though they had gotten coffee Akari wasn;t nearly as excited as she was the day they had come. She was sitting on the train bags near her feet looking quite sullen when she felt a hand brush against hers. She looked up to see Yuuta smiling at her. A voice sounded over the PA system and Yuuta squeezed her hand a little tighter.

"Well this is my stop. I hope to see you soon," he blushed furiously before giving her a peck on the cheek.

"Bye, Yuuta. You will see me soon," Akari reassured before Yuuta walked off the train. She watched the doors close behind him and felt the sudden urge to cry. Akari knew very well she couldn't cry though because she was on a train. Instead she opted for taking a deep breath. She released it and looked at her lap.

Akari awoke with a jolt when she heard her station name being called. 'I must have fallen asleep,' she thought as she stretched and yawned. She got up and took her bags with her as she rushed off the train before the doors closed. She was now back where she should be with the only problem of not knowing where she was going to live. She was thinking where to go when one place popped into her mind, Niou's house. Since it was really the only other house she knew of beside her own she headed in that direction. Akari thought that her feet were going to fall off when she spotted the familiar house she had been at a few days previous. Mustering all the strength she could Akari jogged over to Niou's house. Once there she dashed to the front door and stopped. She raised her hand and knocked three times on the large front door.

**A/N: I know I know I'm a mean author. Another update should be coming your way soon. So what did you think? Please leave a review. I'm sorry this chapter was so long. What's going to happen next? WHO KNOWS!**


	9. Chapter 9

Anime/Manga » Prince of Tennis » **X is 3**

Author: midnightstealth

Rated: T - English - Romance/General - Reviews: 22 - Published: 01-11-14 - Updated: 03-08-14

id:10013910

**A/N: SO here is the next chapter of X is 3. Sorry to keep you guys waiting on a cliffy for so long. I was working on Part time chaos and was getting really in to that. So I apologize for that. But cliffy no more. Here is the chapter and I don't own pot. Enjoy.**

Akari didn't hear anyone so she lifted her hand to knock again when suddenly the door swung open. Akari saw Niou's sister standing there with a less than happy expression on her face. Clearly something was wrong and Akari had no clue what it would be.

"What do you need?" Niou's older sister snapped shocking the young girl in front of her.

"I was wondering if Masaharu was around. I need to talk to him about something." Akari replied trying to be calm.

"He isn't home try again later."

Akari found the door being slammed in her face and was confused as ever. She wondered what she did to deserve such treatment from Niou's sister. She shrugged it off and thought about where she could go next. The first place that came to mind was Sanada's house, but she didn't want to deal with the overly strict vice-captain. Akari figured she would probably have to pass some survival test if she wanted to sleep indoors there. The only other person that she could think of was Yukimura. Akari decided that was probably the next best place and went to find a phone book to look him up. Once finding his name she headed off in that direction hoping another door would not be slammed in her face. Once there she hesitantly walked up the neat path to the front door. Raising a hand she took a breath and knocked once on the door. It opened and Akari was face to face with a beautiful woman with chest length blue hair.

"How may I help you?" the woman asked as she took a look over the girl in front of her. She wasn't too sure of the stranger standing on her front step, but decided that it was rude to just shut a door in someone's face.

"I am looking for Seiichi. Is he home?" Akari nervously mumbled out.

"Yes he is and may I ask who you are?"

"Ah yes I'm sorry, my name is Hoshimoto, Akari," Akari responded with a bow. She walked in the house when Seiichi's mother invited her in. Akari slipped out of her shoes and carried the small suitcase which contained all of her clothes. Soon she heard footsteps and saw that two males were walking down the stairs.

"Akari? What brings you here?" Seiichi asked walking over to her. He had mild concern written on his face.

"Well you see I had a fight with my mother and I ran off saying that I wasn't going to come back. I went to stay with a friend over the weekend, but I had to come back here so I could go back to school tomorrow. I tried to go to Niou's house , but his sister slammed the door in my face. So the next person I thought of was you," she explained leaving out the part about Sanada's house since said male was the one standing behind Yukimura.

"Ah I see. Well you are welcome to stay here as long as you like. Genichirou and I were just working on a project, but you are welcome to join us. I got your things from school and was going to return them to you, but I suppose you would like to work on your assignments?"

"Oh thank you for getting my things. Yes, I would like to work on the assignments that I missed so I am not too far behind when I go back."

"Not a problem. You can work in my room, just follow us," Seiichi beckoned to the girl in front of him.

It was then that Akari realized the magnitude of the house she was in. It was a manor like house with a sprawling entry and beautiful patterned floors. She followed the two males to a grand staircase that ascended on either side. They came to a landing that was ornately decorated with vases and paintings of various people with blue hair. Akari assumed that these were Seiichi's ancestors. They came to a double door and Seiichi pushed it open to reveal a huge room. There was a bed in the middle and a small table where books were spread out in one corner. Akari's jaw dropped at the sheer size of the room she was entering. Was this really someone's bedroom? Or was it a small house. She couldn't decide on the matter. The two males walked by her casually as if nothing was wrong.

"Yes this is my room," Seiichi laughed as he walked by answering Akari's unvoiced question.

"Stop that it's unbecoming for a lady," Sanada reprimanded as he used one of his fingers to close Akari's jaw. She looked up at him only to see a very tired face. A face that said the owner had over worked himself to the point of breaking down. Akari wondered what had happened to make his face like that.

"Here are your things. We can clear a space on the table for you," Seiichi commented handing Akari her bag. He realized that he had broken her out of some trance. She walked over to the table and took a seat. Getting out her Geography textbook she flipped it open along with a notebook and began to take notes quickly. She took a quick glance to see both males staring at her.

"Have you never seen someone take notes before?" she snapped.

"Yes, we have, just not with so much vigor. You may break the pages of the notebook," Yukimura informed her. Akari sighed and put her pencil down, she was really worried about too many things right now and ripping her notebook

"I suppose I am working a little too intensely. I should take a break. What are you guys working on?"

"We are working on a scrapbook for an art project that is due in a week," Yukimura said.

"Scrapbooking is fun. Is it OK if I take a look?" Akari questioned hoping that the answer would be a yes.

"Sure here you are. It's of the tennis team, it goes in chronological order from our first year up until the present time."

Akari took the finished pages in her hands and started to look through them. She saw Renji and Seiichi and some black haired kid that she didn't recognize. She kept looking through the photos and kept seeing this random black haired kid. Finally, Akari gave up guessing and decided that it was time to ask the two males who this kid was.

"Um, Seiichi, who exactly is this? I don't think I have ever seen him before," Akari stated innocently holding up a picture. She was mystified when Seiichi started to laugh and Sanada's frown deepened, if that was possible.

"That, Akari, is Sanada in his second year," Yukimura responded between laughs.

"Sana-what? How? When? What the hell happened to your face?" she blurted out. Sanada just stared hard at her and Yukimura gave her a look of confusion with a slight smirk on his lips.

"What do you mean?" Yukimura smirked at the girl.

"I mean his face is so clean here and free of wrinkles, now I might take to call him grandpa. With all those wrinkles it sure seems that he has aged more."

"Ah I see. Well it is true that he has a few more wrinkles than he did last year. I think that is partially due to Akaya joining the team. I do agree with you that his face has been showing a bit more wear and tear lately," Seiichi agreed as he nodded thoughtfully.

"Well then I think we should do something about it. Sanada come here! Seiichi do you mind if I borrow your bed for a minute?" Akari inquired earning a shocked look from both males.

"Do whatever you need to," was Yukimura's response. He was shocked at how forward Akari was being with people around her.

"Now lay down and stay there," she ordered Sanada as she went to her suitcase. He didn't obey and when she came back with a jar of collagen cream she knocked the stoic statue down onto the bed with one swift hip smack.

"What are you doing?' Sanada asked still feeling pain in his side.

"Just relax. I'm going to do something about that face of yours," Akari snipped. She took off Sanada's hat and threw it on the floor earning a grunt of protest from the male. Akari then dipped her fingers into the cream and gently rubbed some on Sanada's temples. The muscles were tense and taught under her fingers and she frowned a bit, this boy really needed a holiday where he could smile and soak in some rays. She worked down to his jaw line only to feel more tense muscles. She felt him tense under her and she slowed her massage.

"Hn."

"Just relax. This is just helping to relieve your skin of toxins. You need to drink plenty of water after I am done and then your face should gradually start to feel better."

"Hn."

Akari then felt Sanada relax into her hands as she continued to massage. She worked under his eyes and on his cheeks. She rubbed the lines out of his forehead and gently massaged the area around his mouth. Now he was as relaxed as a sleeping infant and Akari couldn't be more happy with the result. She continued on untilshe was done and asked Sanada to sit up.

Yukimura had watched the whole scene in amusement. He was amazed how a small girl could be so demanding and yet so gentle. He was envious though when she started to massage Sanada's face. Yukimura wanted those perfect hands to touch his face. he wanted the beautiful goddess that stood before him to send heat along his nerves with her hands. Yukimura quickly shook himself out of his thoughts as a refreshed Sanada came his way. Yukimura smiled at his best friend and gave a wink to Akari as she walked over after putting her cream away.

The boys finished their project and Akari helped where she could. They were soon called down to dinner, but Sanada declined saying that he had to attend a family dinner and he should be going. The family ate in silence while Yukimura's younger sister stole glances at Akari every so often.

"How about I show you to your room?" Yukimura asked as the meal finished.

"That would be lovely, thank you," Akari responded with a blush. She was excited to see what her room was going to look like. She followed Yukimura up the same set of stairs, but this time they turned left and went down a corridor. Yukimura then opened a door which led to another small hall. He walked to the first door on the right and opened it revealing a room about ¾ the size of his but still large and ornately decorated.

"This is the guest suite. The bathroom is the last door on the right and there is a sitting room on the left with a desk where you can study if you like. You are always welcome to study with me though. I shall take my leave now. Goodnight Akari," Yukimura spoke turning to leave. Something though made him turn back and face the girl that was still standing in the hall. He moved a bit closer. Oh how Yukimura wanted to press his lips against hers. To find out the taste of her lips. His eyes fell on said lips and he noticed how small and delicate they were like a newly blooming cherry blossom. He thought about kissing her, but quickly erased that thought from his mind. He couldn't do that. Instead he cleared his throat a bit getting her full attention once again.

"There are already towels and toiletries set out in the bathroom. There is a phone in your room. If you need anything else do not hesitate to ask. Once again goodnight and I shall see you in the morning."

"Thank you once again," Akari mentioned to the boy in front of her. He smiled at her and then turned to walk away leaving her feeling rather strange. Akari had a funny feeling that Yukimura was withholding something from her. As curious as she was about what that could be she was too exhausted to care at the moment and went off to get ready for bed.

(meanwhile at Niou's)

Niou looked at his phone when he heard a text come in. He swore under his breath when he saw the contents. He was beyond pissed now.

_If my data is right Yukimura should have kissed Akari by now._

_-Renji_

**A/N: So you can see that Renji's data is wrong and Niou is pissed off for no reason. Read on and review for the new chapter. **


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